Conrad Mouton

Conrad Mouton (4 January 1810-16 July 1892) was Governor of Louisiana from 1870 to 1878, succeeding Hector McWarren and preceding Robert D. Holdaway.

Biography
Conrad Mouton was born on 4 January 1810 in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana to a family of Catholic Cajuns. Mouton owned a lumber mill in Lafayette to the south, becoming a wealthy businessman. Mouton feared that foreign competition might drive him out of business, and he developed conservative views. In 1870, he defeated moderate US Democratic Party governor Hector McWarren in the Louisiana gubernatorial election, winning as the Southern Democrats' candidate of choice. Mouton promised to bring back jobs to working-class whites in Louisiana, as well as to stop carpetbaggers from taking southern land and jobs. Mouton became one of the most prominent Southern Democrats of his age, and he served two terms in office. He left after his second term in 1878, and he was succeeded by Robert D. Holdaway.